Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Height and weight in Germany, evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel, 2002

This paper examines the socio-economic variation in height and weight using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Results reinforce previous research insofar as height is associated with socio-economic differences. For example, a low maternal schooling level or a lower position in the income distribution is negatively correlated with the height of West Germans. Furthermore, there is a west–east ...

The determinants of secondary jobholding in Germany and the UK

Secondary jobholding is a persistent phenomenon in both Germany and the UK. Using panel data from the BHPS and the SOEP, reduced form participation equations are estimated for male and female workers separately. Whereas the results vary across gender and countries, there is support for both main theoretical strands, i.e. for the ‘hours-constraints’ motive and, though less clear, for the ‘heterogeneous-jobs’ ...

Too tall to be smart? The relationship between height and cognitive abilities

Recent research suggests for height-wage premiums because of differentials in cognitive abilities. This note adds to the discussion and examines whether verbal and non-verbal competencies are related to height. The results indicate that height is nonlinearly associated to males’ abilities.

Do your brains help you out of unemployment?

This study examines the relationship between individuals’ cognitive abilities, unemployment propensity and unemployment entry or exit. Cognitive skills only weakly affect unemployment propensity and contribute little to individual heterogeneity. They, however, help employed males to stay out of unemployment.

Love Thy Neighbor: Religion and Prosocial Behavior

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between religious involvement and attitudinal (importance of helping others and of being socially active) and behavioral components of prosociality (volunteering, charitable giving, and blood donations) in Germany. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analyses are based on representative, longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic ...

The Returns to Cognitive Abilities and Personality Traits in Germany

We provide the first joint evidence on the relationship between individuals' cognitive abilities, their personality and earnings for Germany. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, we employ scores from an ultra-short IQ-test and a set of measures of personality traits, namely locus of control, reciprocity and all basic items from the Five Factor Personality Inventory. Our estimates ...

Intergenerational transmission of educational attainment in Germany - the last five decades

Over the last decades the German education system underwent numerous reforms in order to improve “equality of opportunity”, i.e. to guarantee all pupils independent of parental background equal access to higher education. At the same time internationally comparative evidence yields that Germany features particularly low intergenerational mobility with respect to educational attainment. This study investigates ...

Substance Use and Earnings: The Case of Smokers in Germany

Fly Me to the Moon: The Determinants of Secondary Jobholding in Germany and the UK

A Different Look at Lenin's Legacy: Trust, Risk, Fairness and Cooperativeness in the Two Germanies

What are the long-term effects of Communism on economically relevant notions such as social trust? To answer this question, we use the reunification of Germany as a natural experiment and study the post-reunification trajectory of convergence with regard to individuals’ trust and risk, as well as perceived fairness and cooperativeness. Our hypotheses are derived from a model of German reunification ...